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Qui Tam

Whistleblower Lawyer Blog

A legal blog that covers whistleblowing law, including news and events dealing with whistleblowing law.
By Finch McCranie, Esq.

Post Frequency: 1.1/day

Last Entry: March 30, 2011 at 00:34:46

Iraq Whistleblowers Coming Forward, as Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction Estimates Billions in Fraud and Waste

Posted on March 23, 2009
Whistleblowers reporting fraud by contractors in Iraq reconstruction are coming forward, reports Stuart Bowen, the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction. The relatively calmer conditions in Iraq apparently are a factor in more whistleblowers coming forward, he believes...

The AIG Whistleblowers Begin to Speak About Its Credit Default Swaps?

Posted on March 18, 2009
The facts about how the AIG Financial Products unit took down AIG begin to emerge more clearly, as AIG whistleblowers begin to speak. Former AIG auditor Joseph St. Denis described his concerns about AIG's Financial Products unit--and how AIGFP's Joseph Cassano refused to let him investigate: "Mr...

Appreciating Harry Markopolis, the Madoff "Whistleblower" to the SEC

Posted on March 16, 2009
I had the pleasure of seeing again and speaking last week with Harry Markopolis, the "whistleblower" now renowned for his excellent work in recognizing and reporting to the SEC that Bernie Madoff was running a huge Ponzi scheme. Harry was in Washington attending the "IRS Whistleblower Boot Camp" sponsored by Taxpayers Against Fraud...

IRS Whistleblower Attorneys Join IRS Whistleblower Office Director and Other IRS Officials for "IRS Whistleblower Boot Camp"

Posted on March 09, 2009
I spent a very satisfying day today with IRS Whistleblower Office Director Steve Whitlock, former IRS Commissioner Margaret Richardson, IRS Special Counsel Tom Kane, and other senior IRS officials working with the IRS Whistleblower Office, in helping stage the most comprehensive legal education program yet about the new IRS Whistleblower Program--the "IRS Whistleblower Boot Camp...

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False Claims Act Amendments Approved by Senate Judiciary Committee As Part of FERA (Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act) Today

Posted on March 05, 2009

Whistleblower Attorneys to Discuss Qui Tam Cases Under False Claims Act, IRS Whistleblower Program, and Sarbanes-Oxley Whistleblower Cases at Annual "Whistleblower Law Symposium"

Posted on March 01, 2009

Pharma Manufacturer in Medicaid Fraud Case Ordered to Pay Millions by Wisconsin Jury

Posted on February 18, 2009
Hidden schemes to defraud Medicare and state Medicaid programs of scarce taxpayer dollars are at the heart of many whistleblower cases under the federal and state False Claims Acts. This morning, Wisconsin Attorney General J. B. Van Hollen announced that a Dane County, Wisconsin jury has just declared that a pharmaceutical manufacturer defrauded the Wisconsin Medicaid program by reporting grossly inflated and fraudulent prices...

UBS Agrees to Pay $780 Million & Identify Customers in IRS Tax Fraud Case

Posted on February 18, 2009
Off-shore tax evasion and international tax avoidance schemes are priorities of the IRS and the IRS Whistleblower program, which rewards tax whistleblowers. Our whistleblower lawyer blog has followed the ongoing investigation of UBS for its activities, which took a major turn today...

Wall Street Financial Industry "Bailout" Whistleblowers Sought by--Michael Moore?

Posted on February 11, 2009
Taking a brief break from "substantive" writing on this whistleblower lawyer blog, I could not help but briefly note this story today: Filmmaker Michael Moore is seeking whistleblowers in the financial industry for his next film. He concludes "if you work for a bank, a brokerage firm or an insurance company -- or if you have seen things or heard things that you believe the American people have a right to know -- please contact me" via the email address posted on his blog...

TARP Apparently Overpaid for Bank Assets, According to Congressional Oversight Panel

Posted on February 06, 2009
Those potential whistleblowers watching for TARP waste, fraud and abuse should note today's report of the Congressional Oversight Panel. According to the report, the Treasury Department has received "far less value in stocks and warrants than the money it injected into financial institutions...

Hedge Funds Face Regulation & Oversight by SEC--Will There Be Another Tool in Addition to IRS Whistleblower Program?

Posted on February 01, 2009
When hedge funds are misused, their lack of transparency and dearth of disclosure obligations make violations of the law difficult to uncover. Sometimes, persons in the hedge fund industry report those abuses through the IRS Whistleblower Program, as some of our IRS Whistleblower clients have done...

Whistleblower Protections Added to Economic Stimulus Bill Passed by House

Posted on January 28, 2009
When the Wall Street "bailout" grew with Congress' creation of the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), Sen. Chuck Grassley emphasized the importance of "whistleblowers" and the False Claims Act to protecting these taxpayer funds from fraud and abuse...

With TARP and Wall Street Bailout, Securities Fraud and Accounting Fraud Targeted by New Supplemental Anti-Fraud Enforcement (?SAFE?) Markets Act

Posted on January 27, 2009
Financial fraud is a frequent topic of whistleblower cases and of this whistleblower lawyer blog, especially with TARP and the Wall Street "bailout" dominating headlines. Senators Chuck Shumer and Richard Shelby have proposed a bipartisan bill to bolster federal resources to combat securities fraud and accounting fraud, the Supplemental Anti-Fraud Enforcement (?SAFE?) Markets Act...

Will Wall Street Bailout Help Firms That Are "Tax Dodgers" and Hide Income in Offshore Tax "Havens"? And Will the IRS Whistleblower Program Provide a Remedy?

Posted on January 18, 2009
As our government hemorrhages its taxpayers' funds to "bail out" firms that made poor decisions--such as American International Group (AIG), Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, and American Express--a just-issued report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) raises a disturbing question: have many of the same firms already been avoiding paying their "fair share" of U...

Offshore Tax Evasion Case: Former UBS AG's Raoul Weil Declared a Fugitive

Posted on January 16, 2009
Offshore tax evasion has been a priority of the IRS and its IRS Whistleblower Program, as our whistleblower lawyer blog has followed repeatedly. This week, the U.S. prosecution of the former head of UBS AG's wealth management business, Raoul Weil, took a strange turn as he failed to surrender himself and was declared a fugitive...

More IRS Whistleblower Procedures Announced by IRS Large and Midsize Business Division (LMSB)

Posted on January 13, 2009
The IRS Large and Midsize Business Division (LMSB) has published a new memorandum on how it will handle IRS Whistleblower claims, the process for citizens to report tax fraud, tax evasion, and other tax noncompliance--and share in the government's recovery of money...

Treasury Department Announces $14 Billion in TARP Funds to More Than 40 "Local" Banks

Posted on January 13, 2009
Continuing the "bailout," the Treasury Department has just announced the release of $14.77 billion in TARP funds to what it refers to as 43 "local" banks (listed below). "Local" may be a misnomer, as the list includes $10 billion to Bank of America Corp...

Fraud and Abuse in Underpayment of Royalties from Oil and Gas Leases--The False Claims Act Provides A Solution

Posted on January 11, 2009
As hundreds of billions in taxpayer funds flow to TARP bailout recipients, the government must make doubly sure to stop or minimize fraud and abuse in every federal program. One area that cries out for attention is the underpayment of royalties owed to the government under oil and gas leases...

TARP Fund Restrictions Are Proposed in New Legislation

Posted on January 10, 2009
Much criticism has flowed from how the first $350 billion in TARP "bailout" funds are being used. Thus far, the need for additional restrictions to prevent and penalize fraud and abuse of TARP money remains unmet. In response, yesterday House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank proposed legislation establishing greater limits on use of TARP funds, among other things...

IRS on Tax Preparer Fraud: Report Illegal Tax Schemes to IRS Whistleblower Office

Posted on January 07, 2009
With tax season approaching, the IRS has alerted the public to "tax preparer fraud" by issuing issued a "fact sheet" (at http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=202123,00.html). The IRS also has attached information about reporting abusive tax schemes through the IRS Whistleblower Program, which provides rewards to whistleblowers...

With Treasury Reporting TARP Funds to More Than 200 Financial Institutions, Will Whistleblowers Be Essential to Guard Against Fraud and Abuse?

Posted on January 06, 2009
The Treasury Department last week issued its December 2008 report to Congress on what it has done with the "bailout" funds through the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) and Capital Purchase Program (CPP). With more than 200 institutions receiving taxpayer money, an overriding question is how to prevent and redress the inevitable fraud and abuse of TARP and other taxpayer funds, through whistleblowers and other means...

Treasury Department Announces TARP Investment in GMAC

Posted on December 29, 2008
The TARP bailout funding continues, as the Treasury Department announced today that it will buy $5 billion in senior preferred equity with an 8% dividend from GMAC LLC. Senator Charles Grassley has emphasized that TARP and other "bailout" funds must be protected through whistleblower protections and whistleblower laws such as the False Claims Act...

KPMG Tax Shelter Fraud Trial Ends With Three Tax Evasion Convictions for Accountants and Lawyer

Posted on December 18, 2008
Fraudulent tax shelters continue to be a target not only of IRS Whistleblower claims, but also of enforcement actions. We have followed closely the KPMG tax shelter fraud case in this whistleblower lawyer blog. The trial of four defendants ended this week, with two former KPMG partners and one attorney convicted of multiple counts of tax evasion for their roles in the bogus tax shelters...

Qui Tam Whistleblower Recoveries under False Claims Acts (Federal and State) in 2008

Posted on December 16, 2008
Some recent significant recoveries under the False Claims Act--the nation's primary tool for fighting fraud and false claims--are summarized below. This summary is part of a paper I submitted in connection with serving on the faculty (with some excellent attorneys) of the "Southeastern Health Care Fraud Institute" on December 18, 2008...

Whistleblowers, TARP, and Other Wall Street "Bailout" Measures--Why the False Claims Act and IRS Whistleblower Program Are More Essential Than Ever

Posted on December 08, 2008
On the same grey November day when President Bush visited Wall Street's Federal Hall to address the ever-morphing "bailout," I was in lower Manhattan meeting with IRS officials about an IRS Whistleblower matter. The tax evasion scheme we discussed was yet another that has cost taxpayers dearly...

Pharmaceutical Industry Hit by Layoffs

Posted on December 08, 2008
The country's ongoing economic distress has produced layoffs in many industries, and pharma appears to be feeling the pain as well. Recent layoffs reported in the drug industry include Sanofi (650 sales reps);Novartis (550 U.S. salespersons);Merck (8,000); Wyeth (2,440); GSK (1,000); Schering-Plough (5,500);and Boehringer Ingelheim (200)...

Offshore Tax Evasion Investigations by IRS and Justice Department Expand, As IRS Whistleblowers Continue to Come Forward

Posted on December 03, 2008
The Justice Department has announced that its investigation of offshore tax evasion will expand to include Europe's largest bank, HSBC in London, and Credit Suisse in Zurich. The increasing scrutiny of illegal offshore tax schemes comes as the Wall Street bailout and turmoil in the banking and financial services industries generate more interest in IRS Whistleblower Program claims...

Justice Department Announces 2008 Fraud & "Qui Tam" False Claims Act Recoveries, with Medicare, Medicaid, and Other Health Care Fraud Alone Topping $1 Billion in Recoveries of Taxpayer Funds

Posted on November 11, 2008
Will Wall Street Bailout Produce the Next Round of Whistleblowers Reporting Fraud? The U.S. Department of Justice this week announced its FY 2008 recoveries in fraud and False Claims Act cases, with more than $1 billion in health care fraud recoveries alone, and a total of more than $1...

IRS Addresses Deductibility of Payments by Defendants to Settle False Claims Act Cases

Posted on October 24, 2008
In our former life as lawyers defending False Claims Act cases, our defendant clients had to consider whether the payments made to settle qui tam cases under the False Claims Act were deductible for tax purposes, and to what extent. The IRS recently issued a paper on the subject: whether a defendant's payment to the Department of Justice to resolve False Claims Act allegations is "deductible in its entirety as a section 162(a) ordinary and necessary business expense, or includes non-deductible penalty amounts under section 162(f)...

Tax Court Prepares for IRS Whistleblower Cases by Adopting New Proposed Amendments to Rules of Practice and Procedure

Posted on October 24, 2008
One of the hallmarks of the new IRS Whistleblower Rewards Program is that whistleblowers have an enforceable right to rewards, and can appeal the IRS Whistleblower Office's rewards decisions to the U.S. Tax Court. The Tax Court has taken a step forward in issuing new proposed amendments to its Rules of Practice and Procedure to prepare for IRS whistleblower cases...

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